Apparatus for storing and feeding oil.



No. 652,376. 4 Patented .lune 26,1900.

L. C. SNELL. M APPARATUS FOR STORING AND FEEDING OIL.

(Application filed July 31, 1899.) (No Modal.)

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UNITED STATES f ATENT Fluch.

LUTHER O. SNELL, OE DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGN OR TO THE HYDRAULIC OILDISTRIBUTION COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR STORING AND FEEDING OIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 652,676, dated June 26,1900.

Application filed J'uly 81, 1899.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, LUTHER O. SNELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Storingand Feeding Oil, of which the following is a speciication, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to apparatus for the storage and feeding of oil bywhat is known as the hydraulic method. In this the oil is iirstintroduced into the storage-tank by the displacementiof water containedtherein and is subsequently fed from said tank by water-pressure. Asheretofore constructed difficulty has been experienced in preventing theescape of oil with the water during the filling of the tank. This is dueto the fact that as the water-pipe is usually connected to the lowerportion of the tank whenever the tank is entirely filled with oil themouth of this outlet will be covered, and consequently more or less ofthe oil will escape therefrom. This not only occasions loss of oil, butis also a source of nuisance, for the reason that the outlet-pipe isusually connected to the sewer, and thus the escaping oil will form avapor which will rise at the catch-basins and cause a disagreeable odor.

It is the object of my invention to provide means whereby the escape ofoilthrough the water-outlet pipe is absolutely prevented; and to thisend the invention consists in the peculiar construction of an apparatus,as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure lis a vertical longitudinal section of myapparatus. Fig. 2 is a similar section showing the manner in which theescape of oil is prevented. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic View illustratingthe relation of ports of the controlling-valves.

A is the storage-tank, which may be of any suitable construction andlocated in any convenient place. It is usual to place such tanks inbasements or to bury them in the ground some distance below the level ofthe ground outside the building. To fill the tank, a pipe or otherconnection, such as B, extends there- 5o from out from the building andis usually provided with a coupling for connecting it to I thesupply-tank:

Serial No. 725,631. (No model.)

In my construction instead of employing such a coupling I provide areceptacle O, preferably buried in the earth and provided with a lid D,which may be raised to permit of filling the receptacle, or an aperturedcover provided with a screwcap.

E is the feed or outlet pipe from the tank A, which I have shownconnected with the pipe B, and F is a valve in said pipe B, by means ofwhich communication with the receptacle may be shut olf.

G is the water-escape pipe, and H is the water-inlet pipe, the latterbeing preferably connected with a water-tank I, having a doatcontrolledsupply connection J, which maintains water at a constant level. Thepipes G and H preferably connect to a common pipe L, entering the tank,and are also provided with a three-way valve K for alternatively openingsaid pipes.

As shown in the drawings, the tank A is provided with adownwardly-extendingwaterlegM,andthepipeLpasses downward through saidleg and communicates with the lower portion thereof. The object of thisconstruction is to form a hydrostatic water-column in the pipe L, whichis of sufficient length to overbalance a column of oil extending fromthe bottom of the leg M to the level of the top of the tank O. At thesame time the height of said water-column is such as to permit of thedisplacement of water in the tank by oil in the receptacle O until thetank A has been entirely filled. It will be readily understood that withan apparatus thus constructed it is absolutely impossible to force theoil into the pipe L by the hydrostatic pressure of the oil 'in the tankO, and if by any cause an oversupply of oil is fed to the receptacle Oit will overiow said receptacle before the oil-column has been forceddown to the lower end of the leg M. If only sufficient oil to fill thetank A is fed to the receptacle O, it will pass through the pipe B intothe tank and the hydrostatic pressure will be only sufficient tomaintain the level of the oil at the bottom of the receptacle O.Although I have shown and described the tank Aas provided with thedownward extension or water-leg M, it is obvious that the same effectmight be produced where IOO 1 the pipe E, I provide a vent-pipe b,extend ing out sufficiently to prevent the escape of oil and which alsoserves as a si phon-breaker. i

i ing a portion rising to above the hydrostatic not be utilized for thestorage of oil, while i with the apparatus shown in the drawings theent-ire tank may-be illed with perfect safety and with equal safety thefilled tank may be entirely emptied. I also desire to provide means forpreventing the forcing of i water into the oil-feed pipe in case the oilin the tank A should be entirely exhausted. This I accomplish byproviding a portion a, of said pipe, which extends to an elevation abovethe water-level. in the tank I, and inasmuch as the oil-level in thefeed-pipe will be considerably higher than `the water-level lthefeedingof the oil is not interfered with by this arrangement. To prevent the siphoning of oil over the elevated portion of What I claim as my inventionis l. In an apparatus for storing and feeding liquids of lesser specificgravity than water, the combination with a storage-tank of an externalfill-receptacle therefor, and a water-outlet for said tank having anupwardlyextending portion forming a hydrostatic column adapted tooverbalance an oil-column to the height of said receptacle.

2. In an apparatus for storing and feeding liquidsof lesser specificgravity than water, the combination withthe storage-tank, of a idownwardly extending water -leg therefor and a water-outlet pipecommunicating with the lower portion of said water-leg and eX- tendingupward to form a hydrostatic column for the purpose described.

3. In an apparatus for storing and feeding liquids of lesser specificgravity than water, the combination with a storage-tank of afillreceptacle above the level thereof, a waterleg extending downwardfrom the tank, and a water-outlet communicating with the lower portionof said water-leg and extending up= ward therefrom for the purposedescribed.

4. In an apparatus for storing and feeding liquids of lesser specificgravity than water, the combination with the storage-tank, of awater-pressure-inlet connection therefor and an outlet connection forthe lighter liquid rising to above the hydrostatic level of saidwater-inlet.

5. In an apparatus for storing and feeding liquids of lesser specificgravity than water, the combination with the storage-tank, of awater-pressure-inlet connection therefor, an outlet connection for thelighter liquid havlevel of the water-inlet, and a vent-pipe orSiphon-*breaker connected to said highest portion of the connection andextending up above the corresponding hydrostatic oil-level.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.l

LUTHER C. SNELL.

Witnesses:

JAMES WHITTEMORE, P. M .HULBERr

